JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) - The Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) is $26 billion in the hole. According to state leaders, PERS has racked up this debt from decisions made by lawmakers in the late 1980s.

In 1998, the Mississippi Legislature PEER Committee released a study. It did not recommend increasing funding or additional staff, but lawmakers promised additional benefits without a funding plan to pay for the benefits.

There are more than 368,000 members in PERS, which includes current employees, retirees and employees who used to work in PERS but haven't retired yet. Of those, more than 267,000 employees currently work or receive retirement benefits.

Some of the jobs include teachers, police officers, firefighters, social workers and sanitation workers.

“Even if you

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